Flag and coat of arms of the canton of Appenzell Innerrhoden

Coat of arms of the canton of Appenzell Innerrhoden

Flag of the canton of Appenzell Innerrhoden

The coat of arms of the canton of Appenzell Innerrhoden shows a black, upright walking bear on a white (heraldic: silver) background. The bear was taken from the coat of arms of the prince abbey of St. Gallen .

Blazon

The official blazon of the coat of arms of the canton of Appenzell Innerrhoden reads: In silver an upright, red-tongued and armored black bear.

history

Coat of arms of Abbot Ulrich Rösch, flanked by the double coat of arms of the Prince Abbey of St. Gallen and the County of Toggenburg

see. Flag and coat of arms of the canton of Appenzell Ausserrhoden

Late Middle Ages, independent canton

The canton of Appenzell emerged in the late 14th century, in 1411 the canton became a free member of the Swiss Confederation (location of the eight old towns ). The coat of arms was first mentioned in 1403 in connection with the Prince Abbey of St. Gallen . This coat of arms shows the same bear, but on a yellow (heraldic: golden) background.

The bear symbolizes strength and in the walking step, energy and dynamics are interpreted. This may have a connection with Appenzell's independence from the canton and the city of St. Gallen .

In 1513 Appenzell was the last canton to become a full member of the Thirteen Old Places .

The bear had to be male

Right from the start, care was taken to ensure that the heraldic animal was a male bear , not a female bear . When the coat of arms was published in a calendar in 1477, the sex of the animal could not be identified. This led to a scandal: the canton government asked the manufacturer to destroy all calendars.

Land division: Innerrhoden keeps the coat of arms

Coat of arms of the canton of Appenzell Ausserrhoden with the letters "V" and "R"

In 1597, for religious reasons, the canton of Appenzell was split into the two today's (half) cantons of Appenzell Innerrhoden and Appenzell Ausserrhoden ( land division ). After the arbitrators decided during the division of the land that the Innerrhodians could continue to use the coat of arms of the undivided canton, Ausserrhoden had to create a new coat of arms. It did this by adding the letters “U” (written as “V”) and “R”, which stand for “Ussere Roden ” (= Ausserrhoden).

Coat of arms of Appenzell

Coat of arms of Appenzell

The place Appenzell (also called the district ) has the same bear in its coat of arms, but with a red circle in its paws. This should show the unity of the place and at the same time its importance as the capital of the canton.

literature

• Louis Mühlemann: coat of arms and flags of Switzerland. 3. Edition. Bühler-Verlag, Lengnau 1991, ISBN 3-9520071-1-0 .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Coat of arms of the canton of Appenzell Innerrhoden, going back to Mühlemann. Wiki Genealogy, see Bibliography
2. ↑ Appenzell at the coat of arms lexicon